Where do you put the focus point???

40dbaby wrote in post #11565233
you said that you took 2-3 shots of the same pose...do you have a shot of the group in focus? In this situation I would have tried to do slight MF to achieve proper focus.

ps. I would second the advise of separating AF to the back button. Weird but my cameras seem to focus more consistently with back button AF...

I already have the AF to the back button. I will try to post the same shot with the group in focus tonight.

It didnt even occur to me to override the focua a little bit because I couldnt even tell on the VF that it was off. Hell, with those situations, sometimes I cant even tell that it achieved focus already. Lol.

stsva wrote in post #11564972
Let us know how it works - inquiring minds want to know.

Will do!

tgara wrote in post #11565718
That would not happen in the OP's shot because setting the Zone AF to the bottom center position necessarily makes it read off a "wall" of bodies. There is no way the AF points could see anything behind that.

Yup, thats is exactly the goal sir. Hopefully it will yield me better results.

It was the same when I took the picture I described above. The difference was too subtle to see in the viewfinder, since today's focusing screens are optimized more for brilliance than accurate focusing.

But it was easy to see in the resulting picture. Alas, then it was too late.

yes it can be difficult to see proper focus with the stock focusing screens....I forgot to mention that I have canon's S-focusing screens in both my camera bodies...helps a little bit.

But the 7D doesn't easily allow you to exchange the focusing screen.

apersson850 wrote in post #11566619
But the 7D doesn't easily allow you to exchange the focusing screen.

Really?? ... wow did not know this; I assumed a pro quality body would allow such a feature. 5d2 and 1d are very easy to change out the focusing screens.

hey guys, here is another shot, ALMOST exactly the same. Still no focus then recompose here. This one turned out ok. But the focus point was HIGHER than it was last time. Now im more confused....

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here is the raw file converted in dpp. any more suggestions? Im still gonna go with the "use the zone af to lock focus on the closest subject" approach next time this situation comes up.

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40dbaby wrote in post #11566643
Really?? ... wow did not know this; I assumed a pro quality body would allow such a feature.

The 7D has a more advanced viewfinder information screen than any other EOS camera. That feature obviously prevents a simple replacement of the focusing screen.
It's easy to change on a 40D too, for example, but it has the same older style of viewfinder information solution as the 5D Mark II has.

jwcdds wrote in post #11565277
That's because the 7D has a transmissive LCD screen that displays the AF point, and not actually the AF point itself. So the screen gives you a rectangle signifying the selected AF point. But it's not a perfect representation of the actual size of the sensor in the region.

It's one of those "learn-to-deal-with" features that once you understand... it's not really an issue at all.

THANKS

40dbaby wrote in post #11566643
Really?? ... wow did not know this; I assumed a pro quality body would allow such a feature. 5d2 and 1d are very easy to change out the focusing screens.

To elaborate a bit on Anders's comment, the 7D has a new transmissive LCD display overlay that takes the place of the focusing screen. It is this display that provides the additional viewfinder info (e.g., AF boxes, switchable grid lines, level info (very cool feature IMHO), etc.)

I keep mine at center at all times.

musashi wrote in post #11559439
Julian, I was already using the flash. I guess that kind of situation is kinda extreme for me to ask too much of the camera. Would you happen to know the range of the focus assist for the 580, and if it works if i have the focus point anywhere other than center point. I thought I have seen that info here somewhere, just didnt bother reading it thoroughly since I didnt expect to be in those kind of situation. I guess now I know better.

Im at work so I cant post any samples, but here is my info if it would help.

I probably have 7 subjects, all adults, in front of me, lined up sided by side so they were going pretty wide.
AF - on
IS - on
I was probably 5 feet from them.
I have the lens at 17mm
ISO 800
F5.6
SS is variable but its ranging from 1/30 - 1/60
FEC is -1 (only because the flash is directly pointing at them)

Is these setting optimal? I now you cant really tell without the photo, but put in the prospect of general night landscape shooting. Keep mind this is Vegas, so there was a lot of lights of different kinds and color. I will try to upload pics tonight. Thanks guys.

edit: macroimage I already had the focus setup to af-on at the back.

I take it you were shooting in AV mode and letting the camera pick the shutter speed. Here's an idea - use manual mode. For mine, I set it to manual, 1/200-1/250th shutter speed, and ISO 100. Pick an aperture setting to get your desired DOF. Set the flash to E-TTL, evaluative. Try a shot. Then adjust FEC up or down to desired exposure.

In AV mode, even with Flash Sync set to 1/250th (fixed) I got inconsistant results and I believe it was using different shutter speeds. Also, there is a lot of noise for only ISO 800. I had tha same amount at ISO 400 so I sent it in to the service center and they fixed it.

I even have C3 set up for flash. In addition to the above, I use evaluative, One shot, and single point or AF point expansion. Has improved my flash work greatly.

HTRN wrote in post #11568834
I take it you were shooting in AV mode and letting the camera pick the shutter speed. Here's an idea - use manual mode. For mine, I set it to manual, 1/200-1/250th shutter speed, and ISO 100. Pick an aperture setting to get your desired DOF. Set the flash to E-TTL, evaluative. Try a shot. Then adjust FEC up or down to desired exposure.

In AV mode, even with Flash Sync set to 1/250th (fixed) I got inconsistant results and I believe it was using different shutter speeds. Also, there is a lot of noise for only ISO 800. I had tha same amount at ISO 400 so I sent it in to the service center and they fixed it.

I even have C3 set up for flash. In addition to the above, I use evaluative, One shot, and single point or AF point expansion. Has improved my flash work greatly.

Actually i had itset to manual mode. Whenever i use flash im always on manual, unless im just using it for fill then im in tv mode. I actually up the iso so i can put -1 on my fec. I dont want my family being to bright when everything else is dark. Worked pretty well actually. They just seem like being lit by all the lights around us.

Actually im bringing my gear in for calibration in two weeks time.I will mention to them about iso 800 noise sinc im already there. Well see what they say.

Edit: iso 100? Im not gonna be able to capture ambient light well enough unless i drag the shutter to some ridiculous speed. I wanted to capture the all the different kind of light, hence i chose iso 800. But im not against trying things out, so i will try use your method next time.